Drainage Solutions

Water goes where you tell it, or where it wants

Altadena sits at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. Hillside runoff, heavy clay soil, and winter storms mean water collects in side yards, pools against foundations, and undermines patios and retaining walls. A drainage system gives that water a path out. Ryan designs the route, digs the trench, sets the pipe, and backfills it himself — no crew, no subcontractors.

Drainage solutions we install

French drains

A trench lined with filter fabric, filled with clean gravel, with a perforated pipe at the bottom that collects groundwater along its whole run. The go-to fix for soggy side yards, lawns that stay wet for days, and the back side of retaining walls. Ryan sizes the gravel bed and pipe slope to the amount of water the property actually sees.

NDS drains and catch basins

Round or square NDS catch basins set at the low points of a yard, patio edge, or planter bed, with solid PVC pipe carrying the water to a discharge point. Downspouts tie into the same line so roof water never hits the ground near the foundation. Grates sit flush with the finished surface so they disappear into the landscape.

Channel drains

A linear trench drain with a grate on top, set flush in concrete, pavers, or decomposed granite. Channel drains catch sheet water running across driveways, pool decks, patios, and garage thresholds before it reaches the house. Ryan installs them in new hardscape and retrofits them into existing slabs.

Drain basins and discharge

Every system ends somewhere. Depending on the lot, that is a pop-up emitter at the curb or a low corner, a dry well, or an approved storm-drain tie-in. Ryan walks the property to find the right discharge point before any digging starts, so the water you move does not become your neighbor’s problem.

Why drainage comes first

Most of the problems Ryan is called to fix — cracked patios, leaning retaining walls, dead plantings, efflorescence on stucco — trace back to water that had nowhere to go. That is why drainage is built into every retaining wall, patio, and landscape installation he does. When the only problem is the water itself, a stand-alone drainage system is usually a one-to-three-day job that protects everything around it.

Built for the San Gabriel Valley

Clay soil that holds water, slopes that funnel runoff, and a rainy season that arrives all at once. Ryan has installed drainage across Altadena, Pasadena, La Cañada Flintridge, and Sierra Madre and knows how water behaves on these foothill lots. He uses NDS components so parts stay available, slopes every pipe to drain fully, and cleans the site before he leaves.